A man's death from hospital-acquired pneumonia has been linked to a "disastrous" laboratory error that led to a mistaken lung cancer diagnosis and unnecessary surgery.

South Australian Deputy State Coroner Ian White has delivered his findings into the death of Broken Hill man Dennis Charles Jackson, 67, at Royal Adelaide Hospital on January 21, 2019.

Jackson had visited his GP in May 2018 because of lethargy, weight loss and shortness of breath, White said today.

A CT scan showed an irregularity in his left lung, and he was referred to the RAH, where Professor Phan Nguyen ordered further tests and scans, which reported "troubling findings" potentially caused by cancer.

Jackson was born and raised in Broken Hill, in far western NSW, where he worked in the mines, at the power station, as

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